


Bring Me Back

by costia_gray



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Dreams, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Reunions, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 06, Starting Over, Time Travel, You Decide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22997035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costia_gray/pseuds/costia_gray
Summary: Literally over a century had passed. Earth was uninhabitable, beyond fixing. The small population that had remained after six long years of waiting and hoping had been forced to move on to another planet.Sanctum hadn’t been much of an improvement, but it had been real.Thiscould not be real.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 20
Kudos: 100





	Bring Me Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lexa_woods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexa_woods/gifts).



> This is for my love on the anniversary of a very sad day for lesbians and TV. She still carries Lexa in her heart, all these years later, so I wanted to try to give her something nice. But I hope everyone who gives this a read enjoys it!

Clarke jolted awake with a gasp.

Her vision was fuzzy and her heart raced, thudding loudly in her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing her brain time to fully wake, and groped frantically for purchase. She squeezed something plush on her left while the other hand pressed against her pounding chest.

She was so sick and tired of waking up with no idea where the hell she was. It felt like an endless, torturous cycle from which she could never break free. But it had taught her a few valuable lessons.

Stay calm.

Assess your surroundings.

Blend in.

Choose your battles wisely.

Awareness filtered in and Clarke took a few deep, deliberate breaths. When she opened her eyes, the room she was in was light. The furnishings were worn but elaborate, the bed large and covered in thick furs, every surface lined with candles. Everything was a little bit broken, a little bit old and crumbling, but it was beautiful. 

When she’d put the pieces together, she nearly stopped breathing altogether.

_The Commander’s Quarters. Polis Tower._

She was in Polis Tower.

“It can’t be,” Clarke murmured.

It had been years since she’d last been here. Years since she saw the crumbling mass it had become after the second Praimfaya. Literally over a century had passed. Earth was uninhabitable, beyond fixing. The small population that had remained after six long years of waiting and hoping had been forced to move on to another planet.

Sanctum hadn’t been much of an improvement, but it had been real.

 **This** could not be real.

She moved to stand, already starting to formulate a plan. She had to find a way out. This had to be a simulation. A trick. Maybe Josephine wasn’t truly gone. Maybe her Mind Drive had taken over again, somehow, and Clarke was stuck reliving the past again, being squashed under someone else’s consciousness.

She had to go. She had to find her way out. Bellamy, Raven, Murphy, Madi, they needed her. Kane was gone. Her mom was gone. Lexa was gone. But there were others out there who needed her. She had to fight.

Clarke stood on wobbly feet, throwing out her arms to catch her balance. While she took a spare moment to steady herself, she looked around the room, and her eyes landed on the table in front of her. More specifically, the sketchpad with a fresh charcoal drawing sitting atop the table.

Her jaw clenched.

Clarke dropped to one knee, reaching out to take the pad into her shaking hands. The drawing of Lexa was familiar, but here it wasn’t old and worn. It was fresh; she could smell it. She passed her right thumb along a lock of hair, smearing a bit of gray along her skin.

“Lexa,” she whispered. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and set the pad aside as tears gathered in her eyes.

Why was she here? She didn’t understand. What was the point of all this?

“Clarke? Are you injured?”

Clarke shook her head. Once. Twice. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She tried to convince herself it wasn’t real, but she knew that voice. Even after all this time, the cadence was familiar, as if she’d heard her speak just yesterday.

“Clarke?” The voice repeated her name, closer now. Clarke didn’t want to look. She couldn’t bring herself. If she looked, it would feel real, and she would never be able to leave. But she had to leave. She had people. Reasons. Important…things. Didn’t she?

She couldn’t resist any longer. She looked toward the source of the voice. Despite herself, despite all rationality, she prayed that this was real, even though it shouldn’t be.

Lexa peered back at her with concerned green eyes, kneeling at her side. She held one hand out before tentatively placing it on Clarke’s shoulder, attempting a gesture of comfort. 

Clarke’s jaw trembled. She wasn’t sure how she kept the damn from breaking, but perhaps years of trying to bottle up her emotions had finally paid off.

“Lexa,” she breathed. “Y-You’re here. You’re supposed to be—” Her voice choked off, and a sob burst forth. “You’re _here_ ,” she gasped, lurching forward into Lexa’s arms.

“Of course I’m here, Clarke,” Lexa replied. Her arms slowly closed around Clarke’s back, and she spoke into her ear. “I had business to attend to, but I was never far. You had fallen asleep, so I allowed you to rest. Moba. I did not mean to frighten you.”

Clarke squeezed Lexa as tightly as she could manage, a watery laugh escaping her at the quiet grunt of surprise the commander emitted. She pulled back and searched Lexa’s eyes for only a moment before she grabbed her face, pulling her in to kiss her deeply.

She knew by the split second of lack of response that Lexa had not expected such an emotional act from her. That had to mean they hadn’t kissed since before Mount Weather. They hadn’t made love. Clarke had come back in time somehow, and she was changing things, maybe big things.

But maybe this was all a dream. She didn’t know, and quite frankly, she didn’t care. Not anymore.

When Lexa did begin to respond, she worked Clarke gently to her feet as their lips and tongues moved together. Clarke clutched Lexa’s shoulders with all her strength until Lexa eased her to sit down on the couch.

“Well, I… I enjoyed that very much,” Lexa admitted quietly. “I have…been hoping for that. But you seem very upset. Are you well, Clarke? Is there something wrong?”

She thought of what this could mean. She thought of Titus and A.L.I.E. and the second Praimfaya and how much those on Earth had suffered from Lexa’s loss. Clarke had lost her first love, her partner and friend, but Earth had lost a strong leader who could easily have smoothed over so many of the problems they’d struggled with in their final days.

Clarke smiled — widely, sincerely smiled — for the first time in far too long. She felt a strange sense of peace settle over her, in spite of her memories of what she’d come from, what she might be leaving behind if she accepted this reality.

If this was truly real, though, maybe they could make changes. Maybe they could make the future better.

“No.” Clarke shook her head. “No, of course not. But we need to start talking about a new plan. There’s something horrible coming, and I think, maybe together, we can stop it.”


End file.
